Driving the cars of The Saint

Halo models?

Were you a fan of the hit TV show The Saint back in the day? Then have we got a treat for you!

Of course, one of the many attractions of the Leslie Charteris The Saint books was the Hirondel, the fictional vehicle used by hero Simon Templar in his battles against crime: ‘He was on his way; and if the rest of the population objected to the manner of his going, they could do one of two things with their objections.’

Films and television opted for more orthodox machinery in their various on-screen adaptations, but which of these is the ultimate ‘Saint car’?

Let’s try them all and find out!

The icon

First was the Volvo P1800. In 1962 there was much speculation as to what Templar might pilot in Robert Baker and Monty Berman’s television series.

Charteris wrote: ‘For the Saint drove with the devil at his shoulder, and the Hirondel took its mood from his,’ but to create a mocked-up Hirondel was obviously beyond the resources of New World Production.

It was probably for the best, because Elstree Studios would likely have constructed an elaborately decorated Sunbeam Rapier SIIIA Convertible.

Spotted!

Instead, Baker and Berman intended Templar to use a Jaguar MkX, but Browns Lane refused to sell them its flagship saloon, let alone issue a press car.

However, a member of the film crew named Malcolm Christopher saw a Volvo in a London showroom and shortly afterwards an ex-demonstrator, registration 71 DXC, arrived at the studios.

The P1800 had taken its bow at the 1960 Brussels motor show, and an Autocar test stated it was: ‘Out of the ordinary in being completely free from any vice.’ Wholly appropriate for saintly transport.

An instant success

Volvo’s UK arm commenced selling cars in 1958, and Jensen initially built the P1800 in West Bromwich. Production of right-hand-drive models began in March 1962. Meanwhile the first episode of The Saint, The Talented Husband, aired on 4 October.

For an idea of just how exotic ‘ST 1’ would have appeared to the average Briton, take a look at 1960s newsreels, their streets populated by rusting Standard Vanguards.

In contrast, a svelte-looking coupé represented the good life for countless ITC viewers. Such was the P1800’s fame that it became the basis for Corgi’s first TV spin-off model.

The signature car

In 1963 Volvo provided The Saint with a Swedish-built P1800, 77 GYL, while villains destroyed the original vehicle in The Case of the Frightened Inn-Keeper.

The show subsequently employed other press cars and the 1800 series became as essential a programme ingredient as the ‘ITC White Jaguar of Doom’ and the regular supporting cast.

No episode would be complete without a Volvo, plus Ivor Dean scowling and Burt Kwouk, Paul Stassino, Roger Delgado, George Pastell or John Carson looking fiendish.

Back to best

The Saint ended its run on 9 February 1969, and 22 years later Kevin Price was approached by a gentleman in north Wales who claimed to own one of the principal Volvos. Upon further investigation, this P1800 turned out to be 71 DXC and Price finally bought the car in 1997.

After another 10 years he eventually accumulated all the necessary parts for its restoration, and in 2012 the Volvo was unveiled at the Classic Motor Show, where it caused a sensation.

The P1800’s impact at the NEC was akin to that of The Sweeney Ford Consul GT in 2019; the return of a car that defined so many childhoods.

The successor

Baker devised a sequel in 1985, provisionally entitled Son of the Saint, which eventually developed into a new Templar series featuring Ian Ogilvy.

This time Jaguar was keen to help, not least because a stellar XJ-S could only boost its profile and that of British Leyland.

The star car was a 1975 manual-gearbox model, the 138th example to leave the factory and a former Longbridge test vehicle.

Tweaked to suit

The white XJ-S was registered as PWK 530R and, because the series was due to air on 10 September 1978, Jaguar altered its appearance to match the latest versions.

Browns Lane also fitted the latest ‘ST 1’ with an electric sunroof plus a radio-telephone, as befitting a car driven by the dashing knight errant.

Templar would surely have agreed with Autocar that the Jaguar was a joy to drive: ‘In its combination of performance with docility, it is unapproached.’

Missing the mark

The producers employed two dealer-sourced back-ups: one for the British and French episodes, and one for the Italian stories.

The Jaguar proved just as suited to the role as Ogilvy, but Return of the Saint entered production in the twilight of ITC’s international man of mystery genre.

Some of the stories were decidedly sub-par – One Black Wednesday, with Stephen Greif and his gang of heavies in a well-used Ford Zodiac MkIV was especially hilarious.

Lost and found

Nor was the XJ-S entirely trouble-free, and Ogilvy recalled: “It often had to be pushed on to the set because it was forever breaking down.”

After filming had concluded, the car seemed to vanish. However, it was rediscovered in 1993 and is now alive and well.

A true fan

‘Our’ Jaguar is a 26,000-mile 1979 example that Charles Porter acquired mainly as a result of his appreciation for Return of the Saint.

The first episode of the series, The Judas Game, made quite an impression on the 14-year-old Porter: “I bought the Corgi model and the 1979 annual!”

His devotion to British ‘action TV’ of the 1970s has also resulted in a Joanna Lumley New Avengers-style Triumph TR7 joining the fleet, and he bought another diecast XJ-S plus its full-sized counterpart seven years ago, accurately describing its condition as: “Unrestored and fresh out of the box.”

Making an impression

Better still, the Jaguar more than lives up to his Saint fantasies. Browns Lane equipped post-1977 automatic versions with a GM400 transmission rather than the older Borg-Warner Model 12: “It is definitely more refined,” Porter says. “As an American ’box, it is far better suited to powerful cars.”

For a long time, as Porter observes, many enthusiasts frequently misjudged the XJ-S as an E-type replacement – a role for which the Jaguar was never intended.

“It is a proper grand tourer,” he says, “so quiet and elegant. If you read magazine group tests of the period, the XJ-S always comes out on top against the likes of the Aston Martin DBS and the BMW 633CSi.”

Alas, he has not yet played a cassette of the John Scott Return theme while driving, primarily through fear of resembling Alan Partridge.

Staying British

The third on-screen incarnation of The Saint arrived in the late 1980s, in the form of six two-hour television films made by DL Taffner Ltd.

To portray Templar, Simon Dutton was selected from 250 actors – and met with the approval of Charteris – while the budget allowed for extensive overseas filming.

There was also an über-naff theme tune, any number of very 1980s hairstyles, and a 1975 Jensen Interceptor III that Dr Shan Chetiyawardana now owns.

Last marque standing

During pre-production, the filmmakers decided on a British grand tourer, with a shortlist including Aston Martin, Bristol and Jensen.

The XJ-S was ruled out because Inspector Morse by then already featured a Jaguar.

However, as Chetiyawardana notes: “Aston Martin was not interested, and Bristol couldn’t provide a car within the timeframe, especially in the Brienz Blue colour the producers preferred.”

Life on screen

Fortunately, when the owner of OND 954P took the Interceptor to the West Bromwich factory for a routine service, Jensen’s Bruce Collard made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Albeit not in the manner of a typical Saint heavy.

The firm upgraded OND to Series IV specification, as per the production company’s requirements, and, as with the previous ‘ST1’, the Interceptor gained an electric sunroof and a telephone. Such modifications cost Saint Productions Ltd £4423.

For overseas filming, the car was driven to France and Germany by the company’s John Page, who stayed with the Interceptor for the project’s duration.

Slipping under the radar

Unfortunately, The Saint did not prove especially popular in its intended US market, and UK viewers largely ignored London Weekend Television’s screenings in 1989.

At around that time Chetiyawardana lived near the Jensen works and, as a devotee of the marque, sought an Interceptor. On visiting the factory he was informed by Peter Thomas, then a company director, that Jensen would be restoring the car when it returned from filming.

Post-The Saint, OND was resprayed and rechromed, fitted with new power steering and alternator, and the cabin was re-Connollised.

Award winning

Chetiyawardana acquired it on 2 March 1990 and Simon Dutton autographed a copy of the registration document.

The Interceptor has since been awarded several prizes at the Jensen Owners’ Club National Concours, and is a truly splendid machine.

Indeed, the Chetiyawardana Interceptor is ideally suited to any future small screen interpretations of Templar’s escapades.

Last in line

Finally, we have a car from the 1990s, that now remote era. When Paramount initiated plans for a version of The Saint, Val Kilmer’s Simon Templar would once again drive a Volvo – this time a C70 finished in Garnet Red.

Based on the 850, with a considerable amount of development work by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, the model used the film as an essential advertising tool.

Variety noted: ‘Paramount and Volvo’s cross-promotional efforts will include national and local TV spots and print ads, as well as promotions at auto shows, in-dealer displays and a website’.

Captured by the coupé

The C70 made its debut on 30 September 1996 at the Paris Salon, and British sales commenced the following June.

The Saint opened that April, but one underwhelmed cinemagoer was Volvo enthusiast Andrew Howard.

He had been fascinated by the new coupé ever since he noticed spy photos in a motoring magazine in 1995: “It was just rear three-quarter shots, and my jaw dropped.”

Alas, the Phillip Noyce-directed picture contained: “Too little Volvo and too much of Val Kilmer. He was not the Charteris character.”

The car was the star

The film virtually vanished from public consciousness, even if some unkind sorts nominated its leading man for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor.

Fortunately, this did not deter Howard from buying a C70 T5 coupé with a manual gearbox some eight years later.

“It is a 2002, last-of-the-line model,” he says, “built four or five months before production ceased. It is mechanically identical to the specification of the car in the film.”

Coming into its own

“It is very solid and sure to drive, better built than the 850 because Volvo thoroughly re-engineered the C70 to create a proper GT,” he continues.

“The styling is the ultimate icing on the cake; I find it reminiscent of Lancia and Alfa Romeo coupés of the 1950s and ’60s.

“You can see that a great deal of time and effort went into creating a beautiful and beautifully detailed shape. Today the C70 is coming into its own as a classic.”

Shifting perceptions

Ultimately, choosing the finest screen transport for The Saint has to be subjective, based on the programme or film that most impacted your younger self.

To pick the P1800 is partially because it is one of the few cars to merit the term ‘television icon’.

It didn’t matter that many sets appeared to be made from balsa wood or that ‘Paris’ bore a quite remarkable similarity to Hertfordshire when the P1800 was evading a back-projected Vauxhall Cresta travelling at approximately 250mph.

Underrated

The other reason for selecting the earlier Volvo is that it was the perfect choice of transport for one of Britain’s most likeable stars.

Roger Moore’s talents were often underrated, not least by himself, but his interpretation of Templar was wholly his own.

A fitting finale

Fittingly, his final screen credit was a cameo in the 2017 made-for-TV revival and he was arguably better suited to The Saint’s wit than the safari-suited excesses of 007.

As if to prove it, the two-part The Fiction-Makers has all the ingredients for fine television: Justine Lord, Sylvia Syms, Kenneth J Warren chewing the scenery and Sir Roger at the wheel of his Volvo.

Cue the Edwin Astley theme tune.